


Into Ruin

by skverl



Category: Borderlands
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-12
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-04-09 01:16:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4328235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skverl/pseuds/skverl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Maya doesn't grasp the situation until after, until people are dead and the Destroyed has been abolished. The realization comes far too late.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Teasing

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, my first fic for abbbbouuut a year now?! I've been writing this on and off for a little while without any rhyme or reason, so why not share. I'm a big fan of this pairing, as odd as it may be. As I said, I've been out of the game for a little while so any errors are all mine and I'm sorry!

Maya allowed her mind to wander as she walked aimlessly across the frozen tundra, boots crunching snow pleasantly beneath her heels as she finally felt the sweat chilling against her back. The frigid air was a welcome relief after a full day half baking in Pandora’s merciless heat, the days that seemed to last far too long and the sticky nights with little to no sleep. 

She made a point to come out to the Southern Shelf whenever she could, just to cool off and quite possibly finish a mission or two without the pressing heat at her back. It was almost refreshing to feel the biting cold at her nose, the sharp winds that stung her eyes and cheeks as Maya made her way slowly across the sea of white before her. 

The only problem being that after a half hour (tops) the cool was no longer so refreshing, instead bordering on painful as her hands changed from red to a tinged blue and needed to be tucked into pockets. Still, Maya thought through clenched teeth, she’d take accidentally freezing to death over spontaneous combustion without a second thought. 

She decided to tuck herself against a rock ledge, shielded from the harsh winds with a clear vantage point of the endless view of jagged rocks dusted in white and the occasional Bullymong to ruin the scenery. After spending days on end with a group of rowdy men, fighting for her life and being splattered with blood every other hour the silence was equally uncomfortable and relaxing at the same time. 

The sound of her Echo crackling to life nearly had her scurrying for her gun in a panic, instead she uselessly kicked her feet out in front of her and squinted at the snow flurry the wind shot back in her face. 

Fuck, could she not get a moment to herself without another mission? Just once, Maya wanted to be able to sit and let her mind go completely blank. She wanted to let the silence grow and grow until she felt sane again. 

Maya grabbed the device with an angry swipe from her belt, nearly sending the thing into the snow in her anger as she hit the button needed to stop the thing beeping at her some more. “What?” she growled, voice quiet in an attempt to at least keep civil. 

“Have I interrupted something, kiddo?” 

Maya stared at the machine for a moment too long, eyes vacant as she willed herself to not smash her echo into the nearest boulder. “Go away, Jackass,”

For the past month, Jack had taken a special kind of delight in tormenting her more than ever. His special kind of torture seemed to be sexual advances on a daily basis and a barrage of nonsense that was almost enjoyable when you got the hang of it (although Maya would never admit to that).

She had tried to raise the issue with Salvador and Axton, had tried to ask as innocently as possible just what Handsome Jack had taken to tormenting her with. She had tried, with copious amounts of embarrassment and the occasional stuttering blush to explain the flirting barrage. The guys had laughed at her, laughed it off and Maya had walked away feeling more confused than before. 

Although, she thought evenly, she couldn’t see Axton giving Jack any time whatsoever. She had tried to do the same, tried to ignore him, but the little shit had found a way to rile her into heated arguments… On her end. He usually just laughed louder and called her stupid pet names, each more stupid and oddly enjoyable than the last. 

“Well, rude,” he muttered and fuck if he didn’t sound amused already. “Kids today,”

“I’m not a kid,” 

“Fresh out the womb and already she’s throwing around an attitude,”

“Oh go away Jack, fuck,” she nearly shouted, fighting the urge to smile with self-control she had no idea she had. “Don’t you have innocent people to kill?” 

“Nope, that’s at 2. Right after my nap, but thanks for the concern, sweetheart,” his answer was so quick, without even the slightest hesitation that Maya could feel herself starting to laugh even as her anger rose. Thankfully, she managed a huff and an eye roll instead.

“Find a hole to crawl into and die,”

“Is this a Siren thing? Is Siren just code for ‘moody bitch’?” No response. “I’m just curious, maybe we could set up a charity to help with that stress,”

“Know what’d help with my stress?”

“O-ho! Now we’re on the same page!” he cheered, the sound of hands clapping and his palms rubbing together confused the siren even more. It was like trying to herd skags, keeping up with him. “You just tell me when and where, pumpkin,”

Maya scoffed, meaning suddenly clear. “Fuck off,”

“I’m getting mixed signals here, babe. Don’t play with my heart,”

“What heart?”

“See, like that. You obviously want in on this, I mean, who wouldn’t right? You’re brimming with sexual tension –“

“-No I’m not,” she interrupted, voice sharp but Jack barrelled on without so much as a pause for breath. 

“And I’m like, sex in people form,”

“What the hell does ‘people form’ even mean, asshole?”

“So really, you should be thanking me for my kind offer,”

“I,” Maya paused, mouth agape and mind blank. She was almost positive he was serious, but being the crazy bastard he was, she had no clue what to believe. “I’ve no idea what to say,” For the first time since this nightmare of a conversation had begun, Jack remained quiet and seemed to be waiting for a response of some sort. “Why are you even doing this?” 

“My god you’re dense, aren’t you, cupcake?” Maya knew he wasn’t expecting an actual answer, but once again Jack allowed the silence to grow until she felt a stilted sort of panic radiate from her gut. Panic was probably the wrong word, but her heart was racing in an uncomfortable sort of way.

One of the never ending downsides of the Order, was growing up somewhere so sheltered and at the same time, warped beyond belief. That and the fact that not one single boy would dare flirt with her, for fear of her powers and all the ‘terrible smiting’ she could do on a whim. It hadn’t really helped her popularity, that was for sure. She had found herself, aged 27, fresh out of a weird cult and without any idea of what she was going to do with her life. 

In Maya’s catalogue of reactions to have at that exact moment, all she could grasp hold of was confusion and the weird jump her stomach gave. Then, the cloying panic. 

She had, of course, made the most of her time the second she had escaped the Order. Drink, guns and a few bar hook ups. She had tried the whole sex thing before she boarded that fateful train for Pandora, thankfully it had been handled like an everyday occurrence. There had been drink, probably too much drink, a conversation, and then sex. Easy. 

To be honest, she couldn’t remember much about it, just that the guy had stared far too long at her Siren markings for her to be entirely comfortable. 

It had made her feel like an exotic bird. Like the whole encounter boiled down to some douche who wanted to scratch ‘bang an alien’ off his bucket list. 

For the life of her, Maya couldn’t remember any nerves from something as simple as a conversation, or flirting, or whatever it was that Jack was doing. Even during sex! The anxiety in her stomach were jarring, almost to the point of pain. Did people put themselves through this for a simple lay? 

It sounded fucking horrible. 

“I’m going now,” she uttered suddenly, fumbling with the echo to end her communication as her cheeks started to burn even through the chilling cold. 

“My doors always open!” Jack chimed, voice chipper before dipping comically low. “As are my pants.”

What a dick. 

For the next week, Maya felt the same stab of panic with every echo call she received. 

\----------------------------------------------

The only problem that Maya had found with driving in a place like Pandora, was that every rocky mountain looked exactly like the last million fucking rocky mountains. That Skag skull? Maybe she’d gone in a big circle, maybe it was another Skag! At this point, she could not tell for the life of her. She’d searched her map countless times with no joy, a dot in a sea of nothing with a fast travel on the other god damn side of the world. 

Except there was a giant goddamn mountain every which way she went, each time leaving her to backtrack.

The Siren contemplated – for the third time in as many minutes – radioing for help, but again decided it wasn’t worth the ribbing she’d get from the boys for being an idiot who couldn’t find her way around a map.  
It wasn’t until she drove by a bandit she had shot in the face not half an hour ago that Maya started to lose her temper. She slammed her foot on the brake, followed by a hand slamming against the steering wheel and a guttural cry of frustration that sounded just a tad too animalistic. 

“Oh! Of course, a fucking circle! Good,” Maya gave herself a slow clap, nodding in the empty cab. Jesus, she needed a bandit just for something to take her anger out on. The guys – Axton in particular – were going to just love this. “How the fuck did I even fucking…,” she muttered, popping up her Echo map as it flickered to life and showed her another load of nonsensical crap. 

There should be a road somewhere around here, apparently, but all the Siren could see was dirt and a dead animal (possibly a Skag, but on a planet like Pandora, you could never be sure). She clicked the monitor off with a grunt. Maya stared insolently out the window, voice becoming a high pitched whine as she mocked herself. “Hey guys, I can’t make it back to Sanctuary tonight, yeah I decided to take a tour of the same square mile for the rest of my life. Alright, see ya!” she scoffed, allowing her head to rest in defeat against the steering wheel. 

The crackling of her Echo on her lap was equal parts a blessing and a weird sort of anxiety attack all on its own. The chances were it was a chance at a less humiliating rescue, or Jack…. And her luck seemed to be on the sucky side recently. 

“Are…. Are you talking to yourself?” Oh, but of course it was Handsome Jack himself. Laughing, she could hear the barely suppressed chuckles of a man who knew very well she needed assistance.

“Leave me alone,” she huffed, not even bothering to raise her face the inch or two needed to stop her sentence coming out as a muffled mess. 

“Sooooo, you can continue your conversation?” he laughed, his somewhat embarrassing giggles growing louder as Maya growled to herself. 

“Oh shut up.” Thankfully, the silence stretched just a beat too long and allowed Maya to calm down. She needed to get back to Sanctuary; it was getting dark, she couldn’t find her way back now! What would her chances be in complete darkness? 

Maya contemplated just asking for help, bastard or not he did seem to hold a sort of soft spot for her… And he was at least amused enough to consider it. Maybe his damn call was blocking her team back home from getting through, although she had been wandering for an hour or so now without any signs that they were checking up on her. 

Which was probably for the best, if she was completely honest with herself. The last thing she needed was one of the guys back home echoing through just to start laughing, it was expected off a jackass like Jack, someone like Axton might just get a foot to the face. 

“You don’t want some help, kiddo?” Jack asked, voice a lot less mocking than a moment before. Wow, she must’ve been a pathetic state if someone like Handsome Jack was pitying her. 

“I’d rather set myself on fire,” she stated evenly, proud that her voice was steady and she hadn’t yet started screaming again. Jack scoffed, either in annoyance or in jest she couldn’t tell. 

“You really have a way with words, you know that? You should write kids books,” he said, to which Maya didn’t answer and instead listened hopefully to the sound of typing on the other end of the echo. 

Maybe he would help without begging, without the Siren having to directly ask? Maya rolled her eyes to herself, this was Handsome Jack she was talking to here. Their conversations seemed to revolve around making Maya as uncomfortable as possible, pet names and flirting so heavily laid on it was almost comical. 

“Fine,” she huffed as the silence grew uncomfortable and Jack’s typing had long stopped. 

“Hmm?”

“I said, fine,” she huffed once more, waved a hand at the growing darkness outside and tried to ignore the feeling that she had just given Jack exactly what he wanted. She needed help, damn it. “Where am I?” 

“Ass end of nowhere from the looks of it, pumpkin” he muttered, Maya growled to herself as the typing resumed once more. He chuckled once, tongue clicking against the back of his teeth in some form of chastisement. “Alright, alright, calm down there kiddo,” The silence only lasted a few seconds before Maya caught sight of something whizzing up into the nights sky through the right hand side window, a trail of white hot heat behind it. “You see that?”

“Yeahhhh,” 

“Go that way!” he sounded so pleased with himself that some small part of Maya wanted to smile, a stupid part that seemed entirely too forgetful of just who she was trusting here. 

Hadn’t her echo map said that was a dead end? Her mind ran through the possible ambushes and humiliating deaths that Jack could be plotting, then logic kicked in and realised death from the circling Skags was a lot more pressing. The animals grew so much bolder with darkness, all considering the metal can she was currently slouched in. 

“What was that?”

“A drone,” Voice blasé, Maya listened to him stretch with the squeak of a leather seat and a strained voice as he spoke once more. “I’ll mourn its loss later,”

Maya started the buggy once more, engine rumbling to life pleasantly as the circling Skags gave a lurch backwards in surprise. The few in front of the car scattered as the headlights blinked into existence, beady little eyes squinting as they yipped and ran toward the pack. 

Already, Maya felt a little better about her situation. Be that from the possible directions, or just the comforting rumble of the engine she had no idea. What she did know was that it was getting late, she was alone and in no fit state to be pulling any all nighters with the animals of this horrid planet. 

Still, she frowned lightly while pulling away. Jack had gone eerily quiet through the echo. Maybe he was planning something. “Are you leading me into a trap?” she asked suddenly, expecting the gruff chuckle she received in response. Of course, a stupid question either way, but it was worth a shot. 

“Why would I? You’ve been driving in circles now for an hour, if I wanted you dead I could just leave you to it,” 

The confusion turned into mild anger as Maya flexed her hands against the wheel. “You’ve been watching me for an hour?”

Jack didn’t answer right away, instead deciding that laughing far too loudly was the best response to an angered Siren. He calmed slowly, a chuckle escaping once more before he cleared his throat; back to enigmatic Jack. “In my defence, it was very funny,” he reasoned, voice one step away from teasing as Maya remained silent and gritted her teeth. “Especially when you started screaming at mountains,”

“You asshole,”

“And here I thought we were bonding,” Jack muttered, voice wounded and almost believable, if Maya hadn’t known better. “Blew my stuff up for you and everything. Where I come from that’s deserves at least a touch of gratitude,” Voice gaining that haughty tone once more, Maya actually heard a finger jabbing the echo speaker, as if in rebuke. God, he really was an ass. With Jack, there seemed a very thin line between laughter and slaughter.  
Jack hummed thoughtfully to himself, seeming to consider his next sentence. “Maybe a side boob,”

If asked, Maya would deny laughing at that point. She would deny the ugly snort, because this was Handsome Jack and he was the bad guy and she did not find that jackass funny in the least. The silence after her not snort was almost deafening, the wait for his cry of triumph even worse so. In a moment of panic, the blue haired Siren snarled a “Shut up,” voice a mix of anger and embarrassment. 

Jack, being a psychopath, took absolutely no notice. Instead, he yelled a far too loud “HA!” into the speaker, listened as the Siren fumbled with driving and turning off her echo at the same time before crowing a final “You laughed, I win.”


	2. An Odd Sort of Intimacy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all! Just wanted to say a quick thank you to everyone who commented/left kudos/ read my work without tutting overly loudly. I am sorry about the delay, I've just quit smoking so I've been alternating between rage and tears for about a week now.... I will do it though, so help me God!

 

She found herself wedged between two rock walls, the rough surface catching at her suit and snagging so many times Maya was a second away from screaming. Although, in her current position she was forced to bite her tongue. With deft fingers, the Siren detached herself once more and smoothed a hand over her weathered outfit. Ears pricked, she listened to the steady _drip drip drip_ that echoed around the cave before her.

When Hammerlock had offered them a little hunting expedition, not only had Maya agreed without a moment’s hesitation, but Axton and Zero had decided it sounded like a perfect break from the norm too. Not that she minded; in actual fact Maya had found her excitement growing by the second, the time that she got to spend with any of the other three Vault Hunters seeming to dwindle as the days wore on.

She knew for a fact that Axton would be a blast, what with his little turret and the non-stop explosions that seemed to follow in his wake. Zero on the other hand, Zero would breeze in and breeze out without a trace (other than the dead bodies and possibly a haiku). It was always a mad flurry of activity when any of the gang managed to meet up.

With a too wide grin and enough ammunition to dent a moon, Maya had clambered into the buggy. Axton had somehow been elected driver on any and all team missions, something Maya was only too happy to agree on after her last trip out. Zero seemed to have no preference either way, quite content to let the scenery slip by as he gazed out the back window.

The Soldier seemed sure of his co-ordinates, setting out at speed for what turned out to be a 2 hour drive. With a planet like Pandora, where the heat was unbearable from first like to sunset, Maya wasn’t ashamed to admit she slept for most of the journey with only the occasional conversation between Axton and Zero filtering through her light doze.

As it was, Maya clambered out when the buggy finally stopped, legs stiff and joints sore after the rough and rocky drive.

“Up and at them, did you know you snore?” Maya gave Axton the middle finger with a wry grin, too excited for real malice as Axton barked a laugh. The soldier planted his fists against his hips, gazing at the scene before them. “So, this looks promising,” he muttered after a moment, joined shortly by Zero and Maya. “Doubt it’d be all this way just for some Skags,”

The co-ordinates seemed to lead directly into a cave no more than 3 feet before them, the three staring inside the absolute darkness as they checked and rechecked their weapons.

“Skags are unlikely, though the path looks treacherous, only time will tell,” Zero chimed in quietly, his voice oddly soothing as he nodded his head forward. Maya grinned as Axton gave the assassin a clap on the back, everyone used to his way of speaking.

“Thankfully,” Maya sighed beside the assassin, giving his arm a nudge with her own as the visor was turned her way. “I’m sick of the sight of ‘em,” she muttered, a grin tugging her lips as Zero’s visor flashed a bright red smiley emoticon.

“That’s the spirit,” Axton muttered, playing with his EchoNet as the machine screeched static at them all for a moment. “So, Hammerlock, you gonna tell us what we’re after yet?”

“Ah, yes, good!” A pause as the static crackled on. “I want you to hunt down a Rakk Hive for me,”

“A Rakk Hive?” Maya’s frown was audible; Rakk Hives were known to be a pain in the ass. Of course, they were few and far between. Ugly as sin to boot. Their skins weren't even worth anything! “Why?”

“Because it’s a hunting expedition!” Hammerlock answered quickly, voice full of fake cheer.

“But,” Axton started, face screwed up in disgust at the mere idea. “I mean, they’re so gross. Who wants it?”

“I do,” Hammerlock already sounded exasperated with their reluctance.

“But,”

“I want it dead, it’s a bastard and I hate it, okay?” he interrupted, sharp and awaiting the murmur of agreement from the group. After a brief glance to Axton – who was still grimacing comically – the group murmured a yes. “Sending you it’s tracker now, just kill it and I’ll pay you,”

“Are we getting you some sweet, sweet revenge, Hammer?” Maya asked, voice light as the group walked through the lip of the cave and into (what seemed to be) utter darkness.

“Something like that, that beast ate my best sniper rifle.”

 

 

For some reason, they had split up. Maya taking the most direct route toward the mouth of the clearing, the steady blip of the Rakk Hive’s tracker telling her she was growing closer. The main entrance hadn’t seemed a good idea in the least, all three Vault Hunters knew it was easiest to take down a Rakk Hive when they had the element of surprise on their side.

That and as much explosive ammo as they could get their grubby little hands on.

Zero had taken the dangerous path upward in the hopes of finding a good vantage point to snipe from above, while Axton had decided to circle all the way around to the back. So far, Maya had heard from neither of them and was hardly in a position to check in.

With a hiss of pain, she caught the delicate skin of her cheek against a jagged rock within the darkness. Huffing to herself, Maya finally shuffled the final few feet out of the enclosed space and edged her way behind a boulder. Wiping the blood from her cheek, the Siren fumbled with an earpiece as she tried to connect it in the dark.

Almost instantly, she heard a succession of beeps signalling an incoming broadcast. Absently she clicked to respond whilst jamming the battered earpiece into her ear, an act made that much more difficult with the confined space. “You in?” Maya whispered, the earpiece held firmly against her head with one hand.

The pause that followed was unnerving, although the all too familiar giggle was even more so. Damn it. “Am I what?” Jack chortled, voice a whisper that seemed to mock her even more.

“Oh for,” Maya sighed, resisting the urge to rub a hand against her forehead. “Jack, real bad time,” she sighed, trying desperately to sound angrier but whispering just seemed to add an odd sort of intimacy to everything she said. It was unfortunate, but not as uncomfortable as Maya felt it should be.

“Have you made plans without me?” he asked, voice quiet only to be followed by a low whine of disappointment. “Why, you having a little bandit outing?” A beat. “Better yet, a little bandit sleepover?”

“I’m going to have to hang up on you now, it's a real shame,” she growled, hand ghosting over her hip to free her echo broadcast absent-mindedly. Although, technically she was alone, the cave echoed horribly and there was always the possibility that either Axton or Zero would pick up on the hushed conversation.

“Yeah, yeah, shut up for a second,” Jack barrelled on, so confident that Maya found her hand stilling against her hip bone. She huffed gently to herself, hunkered down behind a large boulder and stared off into the distance. “What say you to a Rakk, Bullymong monster?”

“Uh,” Maya frowned, just when she thought she was getting the hang of Jack’s non sequiturs, she found herself lost in a sea of madness once more. He wanted to breed an animal half Rakk, half Bullymong? Why? From the image Maya had in her mind, it sounded like a pretty useless creation. How would it fly?

The siren fought the urge to slap herself, realising far too late that she was even entertaining Jack’s crazy ideas.

“Pretty cool, right?”

“No, not really actually. Sounds a bit,” Maya paused, pulling air through her teeth as she scrambled to find the right word.

“What?” A beat, Jack sighed before seeming to realise her answer wouldn't be an agreement. “Spit it out, pumpkin,”

“Well, lame,” The silence following that statement would’ve been unnerving, had it not been for the moment's respite it allowed Maya to peer around her cover in search of her prey. There the ugly mother stood, all weird jaw and skin like Skag sick. God, they really were repulsive creatures. Thankfully, they were also stupid as sin. This one, for instance, seemed quite content with staring at the opposite wall for hours on end.

“Fight me,” Jack growled, voice so gruff that Maya gave a little jolt of something. Something she really didn’t care to examine, instead she huffed a laugh and rolled her eyes in the darkness. “That’s it, you’ve lost your naming rights. How does that feel?” he was smirking, it was just audible with someone like Handsome Jack.

Maya allowed the question to hang in the air for a moment or two, humming to herself in fake consideration. “I’m surprisingly okay with this, who would’ve guessed!” she chirped quietly, feeling the warm blush that engulfed her face with Jack’s laugh at her tone.

“Okay, okay, let’s make up. You can name one,”

“Fuck off,”

“What an unfortunate name,” A beat, Maya smirked into the darkness. “I’ll name one Bitch Tits, in your honour. You can visit every other weekend, take him to the park and stuff,”

“You are insane, you do know that, right?”

“I had an inkling, don’t you think that’s part of my charm?”

“No comment,” she muttered, checking and rechecking her pistol’s chamber in what turned out to be a nervous tic as Jack giggled again.

“Ah, you so obviously love it, pumpkin,” he muttered, the sound of typing filtering through as he seemed to consider something. “You do know there’s a Rakk Hive, like, 10 metres away from you right?”

“Wow, I am so lucky I have you to look out for me,” Maya growled, catching sight of Zero as his visor appeared to the right and above. The cliff edge was secure enough to be a brilliant sniping spot, sharp rocks concealing the assassin until the very moment he wanted to be seen. Shit, she needed to rap this up. “Yes, I know that, idiot,”

“Rude,” Jack muttered, and yes, Maya would admit she smirked. Zero’s head disappeared behind cover once more, sure he had gained her attention as she gave the area a once over for Axton.

“That’s why I need the line clear, so get off,”

“Hey, be nice. Bitch Tits wouldn’t want to hear us fight,” The snort of amusement that Maya realised far too late was her own would haunt her for the rest of her life. “Fine, I’m going. But just so you know, I heard that laugh too.” Jack signed off, leaving the line in static as Maya flushed a deep and burning red. God, he always had to sound so triumphant, didn’t he?

No more than 10 seconds later, her line beeped to life once more. “Uhhhhh, Maya?” Axton murmured, voice a heavy mix of confusion and annoyance. Already, the Siren’s heart was fluttering in a panic. Was she heard?

“Ax, hey, hi,” she cringed, her voice sounding guilty even to herself. With a quiet cough, Maya tried to focus on the now instead of the shit storm awaiting her if Axton had heard anything. He couldn't exactly say anything now. “You in position?”

“Uh, yeah, all set,” A beat as Axton seemed to mull over his thoughts, the top of his face appearing from behind a rock on the other side of the clearing. “Zero, buddy, you good to go?”

“I’m in position, I have the Rakk Hive in view, ready when you are.” Another haiku, perfectly delivered as Zero lined up his sights on the behemoth of a creature before them.

 

 

They didn't leave that dank little cave for a further hour, all three of them a little less full of energy with a few new bumps and bruises to add to their collection. Axton seemed to have taken the brunt of the attack, equal parts throwing down turrets and running around in circles screaming for comedic relief. The man was going to get himself killed some day, but Maya was quite convinced he’d find a way to play even that off as a massive joke in the end.

At the moment, the soldier had an arm wrapped around the much slighter figure of Zero, although the assassin didn't seem to be struggling whatsoever. There was a nice purple bruise blooming across Maya’s cheekbone where she had been shunted to the side and into a rock wall, whereas Axton had been charged twice and come away with a gash to the shoulder.

Zero – the lucky shit, really the assassin had the best idea with sniping – had not even a scuff mark on his gear. Their silent companion wiped a gloved hand across the soldier brow, before showing the slightly congealed red smear to Axton.  
“Oh, look at that,” he muttered, grin still splitting his face in two even as he wiped a relatively clean hand across the fresh cut. “Thanks, Zero,”

The assassin merely nodded, the gang all making their way to the buggy on tired joints and weary muscles. Maya raided the back seat for a bottle of water and a clean(ish) cloth, adrenaline still buzzing through her veins as Axton took a seat against the hood of the car. Zero eased himself into the back seat, before promptly laying down and propping his head against the door behind him.

The adrenaline after a big fight was always a little jarring, when the silence seemed deafening and everyone was a little hoarse from shouting to teammates across a battle field for far too long. It was odd to return to something as simple as tending to wounds or a simple conversation after such excitement, near death and an hour spent shouting at your friends.

Maya ambled over to Axton, wetting the cloth as she went and earning herself a pant leg of dripping water for her troubles. Although, with the sun trying to cook them all alive, it was already beginning to dry. Without any ceremony, Maya slapped the cloth to Axton’s head and watched as the man jumped a foot in the air. He sprang from the hood, almost on tiptoes as he tried to shake off the water running down his back.

Maya laughed through his yelps, crossed her arms and waited for the soldier to theatrically glare her way.

“Wipe your head, idiot. You’re bleeding,” she smirked, giving Axton an eye roll as he attempted to shrug off the suggestion. Maya went to jab a sharp finger in his forehead, smirk growing as he leaned away and relented, cloth covering the tender scrape.

“You need to work on your bedside manner,” he muttered, smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“And you need to bleed less,”

“Good talk, let’s work on this and get back to one another,” Axton quipped, voice chipper even as he grimaced at the mixture of blood and sweat that was being dabbed away. Maya took a generous pull on the water bottle, swallow audible as she finally felt her heart rate calm. “Who were you talking to?” Axton asked suddenly, and Maya felt the soothing bubble of liquid turn sharp and painful in her throat. With a discreet cough and (not so discreet) splutter, the Siren turned her grey eyes to Axton in what she hope looked like innocent confusion.

“Hmm?”

“In there,” A thumb thrown over his shoulder, Axton’s eyes were sharp and expression suspicious. “I heard you talking, you laughed,”

“Oh! Oh, yeah yeah,” Maya muttered lamely, pausing for time and failing to think of even one excuse. Just as the panic set in, just as she was sure Axton was going to start questioning further, an idea occurred to her that was falling out of her mouth before she even realised it. “Tina, she wants another game of Bunkers and Badasses, you know how she gets,” she shrugged, aiming for nonchalant and failing badly.

“Oh, yeah.” Axton did not sound convinced, but he did look tired enough to let the subject drop.

Maya ignored the pull in her stomach, she ignored the little voice in her head that reminded her she was lying to a friend. Lying for what purpose? So she wouldn't have to explain her weekly conversations with Handsome Jack, the enemy and general asshole?

She also ignored the nagging doubt that told her she was lying for her own selfish reason, because that was crazy.


	3. Missed Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once again, real sorry about the delay here. Been working 50 hr weeks, I could literally kill a guy right now. With my mind. From SPACE. Anyway, I will be editing this within the next day, but as it is I wanted to get this posted just so people didn't think I was dead. Any mistakes, please let me know!

The journey back to Sanctuary was oddly jovial, what with Axton bleeding sluggishly from a head wound and Zero either spacing out or napping the atmosphere was still somehow light. Either way, Axton was pleased and cracking slightly inappropriate jokes every other minute, while Maya turned a shade of red that she just knew clashed horribly with her hair. 

Even as they all slow to a crawl outside Sanctuary, Axton honking the horn for a Crimson Raider to let them in, the soldier was still talking about some farfetched little story or another. 

“You know what he said? Maya, oi!” A large hand jostled the Siren from her half doze, just as Zero gave a slight sigh and a stretch (oddly reminding her of a cat). “You know what he said?”

“No, what he say?” she grumbled with a half-hearted sigh of annoyance. 

“Said he was a devout family man,” A deliberate pause, Axton looked so pleased with himself Maya couldn’t help but grin crookedly back. “In fact, he had three of them.”

“Axton,” she groaned, somewhat drowned out by Axton’s tittering laughter and stamping his feet. “That’s such an old man joke, stop it. I can feel myself aging just listening to you,” she groused, grin still tilting her mouth at an odd angle even as she cringed hard enough to hurt. Axton slapped her knee, waved at the Crimson Raider that lowered the gate and all three made the slow approach to Sanctuary.

“Ah come on, you’re the only person who lets me tell them! Coupled with the fact that you were kept in a bell tower-”

“-The Abbey, but okay,” A non-committal wave of the hand being her only response, yet the gesture was a very clear ‘same thing’. 

“You’re the only person who doesn’t know the punchlines! So in actual fact, I’m teaching you,” The engine was silenced as all three clambered out, Zero making his stiff approach to Moxxi’s before anyone could really say otherwise. The two followed without thinking, Axton nodding his head sagely in apparent deep thought. “So, you’re welcome,”

Maya smirked, punching the soldier none too softly as they made their way into the bar and were immediately swallowed by music and drunken voices. “My God, you’re such an ass.”

 

Hammerlock’s face of vengeance was something to behold, mainly because he was trying very hard not to look too pleased about anything in particular, but the odd titter of amusement or a furrowing of the brows would give him away immediately. 

“Ah, good!” A clap of the hands, metal meeting flesh to give a dull thud. “Well done, I knew you’d be good at this hunting lark!”

“Well, we do try Hammer. Oh!” Maya stood from the barstool she had been perched upon with ease, turning back to the pack that had been left carelessly upon the bar. Of course, even the bandits of Sanctuary weren’t stupid enough to steal from Vault Hunters, at least if they wanted to keep their kneecaps safely where God intended them. 

With a small amount of flourish, Maya removed a positively filthy sniper rifle that glistened oddly in the dimmed lights. The glisten just happened to be whatever the Rakk Hive’s last meal had happened to be, Maya grimaced with a twitch of the nose as she felt the gun slip smoothly against her grip and quickly passed it off to Hammerlock. 

The man in question looked almost fit to dance, eyes wide and a triumphant little grin on his face even as he smeared something half-digested across his chest. 

“Very good!” he took a moment to admire the once lost sniper rifle, hands working against the barrel to try and remove as much gunk as possible (and somehow just spreading it all further). “I must admit, I’m pleasantly surprised. I thought this would be long gone by now,”

“Give another bowel moment and it would’ve been,” Axton muttered more to himself than anyone else, with the little grin of someone who found themselves far too amusing. Maya pretended she hadn’t heard him, while Zero tilted his head in consideration. 

“Most probably but, it may have been easier, waiting after all,” Zero chimed in, voice distinctive somehow over the din of the bar even though his voice was the same level as ever. Maya grimaced after a moment’s thought, cottoning on to his meaning the same moment Axton gave a surprised laugh to Zero’s side. 

“Gross,” she muttered, arms crossed and head shaking in what she hoped looked like a convincing display of maturity. 

“True though, would’ve saved a lot of rooting about in dead things,” Axton spoke through his laughter, cheeks a cheery pink as he gave Zero’s thin shoulder a friendly squeeze and a beaming grin… Almost as if he was proud.

“There’s still an unpleasant rooting around to be had, either way!”

“Ah, yes, faeces. A hilarious subject I’m sure,” Hammerlock crooned, not really paying attention as his gaze fell away from the group. “But if you’re quite done I would like to offer another hunting trip for you three,”

“Sign us up,” Axton responded without hesitation, only noticing Maya frown of irritation after he spoke. It wasn’t irritation, per say, but Maya had decided after the Abbey that she wanted a little bit of a say over her own life. He turned to the blue haired Siren, brows raised in a parody of innocence. “Oh, I’m sorry, have you got a prior engagement?”

“Oh shut up.”

 

Maya ignored her EchoNet as the earpiece announced another incoming call, one that she was set on ignoring as Axton ambled cheerfully beside her. The soldier had absolutely insisted on splitting into pairs, with Zero and Salvador taking an abandoned mine shaft through the Caustic Cavers to meet at Hammerlocks co-ordinates. The Crystalisks were in no short supply, and what with their crystals being worth quite a lot of money it had only seemed logical to bleed the area dry in the fastest way possible. 

Only problem being, it meant each and every incoming call had the potential to send the Siren into a guilty red flush that Axton had taken to staring at suspiciously. 

It had to be Jack, Maya thought, even as the caller gave up and her earpiece fell silent once more. After what felt like hours of pleading, the man had not hacked her comm again and instead gave her the option to screen anything incoming. That, of course, had not meant a missed call was left until she was free. Jack seemed to take great pleasure in pestering her until she finally cracked, finding a secluded corner to call him some truly imaginative names before hanging up on his cackling laugh. 

Asshole, she thought, as her earpiece beeped at her some more. She had a whole half minute of silence there, it was almost pleasant. 

“Maya, you ill or something?”

“What?” she muttered, shoulders relaxing into a parody of calm even as Axton raised a brow at her. He wasn’t buying it, shit. 

“You, are you ill?” A pause as Axton gazed at her suspiciously, eyes darting from her nonchalant shrug to the ruddy pink cheeks that looked so out of place on the supposedly ruthless Siren. “You’re blushing like, like….”

“A soldier at Moxxi’s?” Maya quipped, lips pulled into a self-satisfied smirk as Axton gave an unhappy little pout. He lowered his eyes as Maya laughed quietly to herself, both facing forward as they skirted a bubbling lake of something green and acidic. 

“Oh shut up, I’d like to see how you cope,” he finally muttered, voice petulant. Maya scoffed, giving his shoulder a light slap with the back of her hand.

“I do cope, I’ve seen more of her cleavage than my own,” At that, Axton perked up, the look on his face just screaming that the man-child had found something amusing in her statement. In review, Maya knew just what he was going to say too. “I swear if you make a joke about my tits I’ll cut you into pieces and throw you to the Skags,”

Axton laughed, a loud boom through the silence that attracted a small family of Varkids from nowhere. At least the gunfire allowed Maya a moment to switch off her EchoNet, the suddenly silent earpiece doing wonders for both her mood and her pink tinged cheeks. 

“Stop deflecting,” Axton stated suddenly as the pair picked off the last few oversized bugs, both checking the ammo stashes close by for a much needed refill. 

“Then stop thinking about Moxxi,” Maya quipped, shit eating grin in place as Axton rolled his eyes. 

“You brought her up,” he muttered, falling into step by her side easily. A large hand was waved vaguely in her face, thankfully Maya was used to Axton’s lack of boundaries and merely side eyed him as they walked. “You keep going all pink, I mean, I know I’m handsome but really,”

“Oh my Goooood,” A well delivered punch to the ribs, more force than jest as the soldier spluttered out a giggle mid wince. “No. Maybe I’m just running a fever, it’s the heat. I’m just not used to it,” A shrug, Axton had fallen silent so she continued quietly. “Athenas never had weather like this, I’m used to frigid cold,”

It was strange to think of Athenas in such a way, without any real malice of anger at the Order and instead thinking of the planet as a whole. The day cycles were shorter than Pandora, with less of the unbearable heat and more winds that took your breath away, days full of rain and the occasional thunder storm. If she missed anything, it had to be the weather. 

“You sure about that?”

Maya considered playing the comment off as misunderstood, maybe with a touch of anger to get Axton to drop the subject. Yet at the end of the day, she just knew that anger would do more damage than good. Axton was meticulous at times, when he sunk his teeth into a subject he would not quit until he was satisfied. Instead, the Siren did all she knew how to with the soldier/odd friend she had acquired. 

Embarrass him in return. 

“Axton, I swear I don’t want to jump you. For one, Moxxi might come after me,”

“I could always make room for one more,” he quipped, a comically salacious wink when Maya caught his eye really driving the point home. She snorted sharply, shaking her bangs out of her eyes as she marched onward and left Axton to catch up

“Gross,” 

Axton gave a laugh by her side, falling into step easily as he mimicked her voice perfectly. 

“Gross.”

 

The team of four did not get to leave the hell of the Caustic Caverns for another 3 days, enough time for Maya to decide that feigning a fault with her Echo was worth the suspicious glances she received from Axton and just left the thing off. For the entire trip, Axton had remained glued to her side and highly suspicious in their quieter moments. The Siren could literally feel his gaze against her back, only to turn and see that he was gazing serenely across the horizon to his side. 

For a man like Axton, serene was enough of a warning by itself. 

Even after finding Blue, the giant Crysalisk that Hammerlock had sent them hunting after, the expedition could not end as the team had to begin the harsh trek to the nearest fast travel. Low on ammo, energy and water they had all more of less jogged for freedom with the barest hint of desperation. 

Although, the amount earnt from the crystals dropped had them all in much higher spirits than usual. 

When the gang did finally reach Sanctuary, they all breathed a sigh of relief in near unison. Salvador wrapping a beefy arm around Axton’s waist with a weary cheer, giving the man a slap on the back before announcing none too quietly how desperate for a hangover her really was. 

Axton, without nearly as much convincing as he liked to pretend, joined the Truxican with a cheer of his own. Zero’s blank visor panned from their departing backs, to Maya’s heavily slouching shoulders with a slight cock of the head. Usually, the visor would be enough to make most people look away, but after so much time in the other’s company Maya found herself less than fazed. 

“What do you say we hand in this mission with Hammerlock, then drop by Headquarters?”

“An excellent plan, we should notify Roland, he may have more work,” 

“Fuck Zero, I can’t even think about work right now,” she muttered with a dry laugh, making her slow approach to Moxxi’s as Zero’s visor blipped with a quick LOL. “Sleep and food, though? Sounds great.”

 

No less than half an hour later, Maya found herself on the roof of the headquarters whilst gnawing none too gently at her lower lip. Within her hands, the Siren gripped her EchoNet and tried to force her mind into a state of calm. 

For some reason, she felt a strong surge of guilt. Maybe at the situation as a whole, but deep down Maya knew that wasn’t the reason at all. She wanted to contact Jack. There was no other way around the fact, she knew that, yet the little voice in her head reminded the Siren with growing panic that this was – very much so – a bad idea. 

Without really concentrating, she was switching on the Echo for the first time in days and fishing the long forgotten earpiece out of a deep pocket. Without giving herself time to feel too ashamed, Maya listened to the steady beeping that signalled an outgoing call in a state of eerie calm. 

“What?” A voice barked, followed by what sounded like a keyboard being beaten within an inch of its life. Then, a small pause. “Who is this?”

“It’s your conscious, Jack. I’m here to tell you, you’re a giant dick hole,” she quipped, voice neutral even as she grinned crookedly to herself. 

“Oh, hello! I was convinced you were dead,” Jack chimed, finally leaving the keyboard to die in peace. 

“No you weren’t,”

“No, no I wasn’t. Either way, I held a little funeral, shame you missed it,” Jack gave an audible sniff, voice light and too carefree compared to the barking tone of earlier. 

“Touching,” she deadpanned, picking at a scuff in the material across one knee. Unsure what she had even called to say, she shrugged for no one but herself and decided to just go with Jack’s somewhat bats shit insane flow. “I was in the Caustic Caverns,”

“I know,” A beat, followed by a put upon sigh that had Maya turning a shade of pink that she absolutely hated. “When you so rudely ignored my calls, I had a look for the transmission,” Another pause, Jack’s voice seemed to gain a teasing aspect the longer she stayed silent. “Off being heroes, shooting the wildlife?”

“Naturally, blown up any more planets?” 

“What, today or this week? Gotta give me more info than that, babe, I might have to grab my diary,” Maya snorted, loudly but without a hint of regret. At this point, snorting was an acceptable response between the pair. “So attractive,” Jack groaned, as being Handsome Jack meant you had to be as socially awkward and humanly possibly… and then some. 

“My God you’re a dick,” she grunted, ducking behind her bangs before realising that absolutely no one could see the eye roll and subsequent grin she aimed at her own legs. 

“And yet you called me!” A deep chuckle that did odd things to the Siren, things she didn’t feel entirely comfortable dwelling on. “Miss me, kiddo?” he simpered. 

“No,”

“Then what’s this?” A beat, no response. “Aww, she’s gone all shy!” Handsome Jack and mocking, baby like voices seemed to go hand in hand. The fact that it wasn't annoying was a very bad sign. “You totally missed me,”

“I’m fairly confident I’m the only person who puts up with your mad ramblings for longer than 5 minutes,”

“Ehhhh,” he grumbled and Maya could just feel the accompanying shrug. “Even so, what does that say?” he asked, receiving nothing but a semi awkward grunt from the blue haired Siren for his trouble. With some newfound mercy, Jack thankfully moved the conversation onto safer topics. “Back at Sanctuary, kid?”

“Yeah,” she sighed, wiping at the hair sticking to her forehead. “Sweating my ass off, again. How do people cope with this?”

“They take breaks out in the Tundra, and they let people like Handsome Jack know when,”

“Yeah, right,” Maya muttered with another trademark snort, shaking her head at the sunset without really seeing it. Here it came again, the almost painful heart rate and that oddly flirtatious tone from a mass murdering fuck head that did weird things to her stomach. 

“You can keep up the Siren act all you like, but you called me, remember?” Maya – thankfully – chose not to reply to that one. Jack had moved closer to the mic, voice a hushed growl that had Maya wanting to lean closer and run away at the same time. “Come on, what harm would it do?”

“Well, there’s the very real possibility that I would wind up dead,”

“Hmm, hmm. A strong argument, but I’m hardly going to kill you now, am I babe?”

“Oh really? And why not?” 

“Well, for one thing I’m not into necrophilia,” Maya gave a gargled sort of noise, somewhere between a gasp and choking on her own saliva. Jack tutted heavily into the mic, voice far too amused. “Oh don’t play coy, sweetheart. And two, you said yourself you put up with the rambling, you even play along sometimes!”

The silence that followed was so many shades of uncomfortable, Maya got to her knees to leave twice before realising the idea didn't sound as insane as it should’ve done. 

“Are you serious, Jack?” she muttered, voice hushed with the sudden paranoia that someone out there was listening in…. Somehow. 

“As a heart attack,” Jack waited a total of five seconds before barrelling on, obviously sensing the Siren’s resistance crumbling. “Come on, I promise not to kill you. If only you could see me right now, I crossed my heart and everything,”

Maya felt her lips twitch into a ghost of a smile against her will, even as she heard herself mutter a faint “Okay, sure,”

“Good girl.” Jack purred, actually purred...

Fuck.


	4. The Waiting Game

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to say I am really, really sorry for the lack of updates. It was a bad run up to Christmas, then David Bowie died and I really haven’t been in any frame of mind to do anything but listen to his music and be upset for the past weeks. 2016 is shaping up to be a big, ugly ball of suck. I refuse to participate anymore. I am sorry though, I’m still not great but I’ve decided to actually do something instead of wallowing in sadness and retro hair. I will be looking to edit this at a later date, I’ve also gone back on the previous 3 chapters and edited some of the mistakes out. Nothing big, just niggles.

It wasn’t like she was panicking, per say, it was merely the fact that Maya was fairly sure waiting for the enemy in a shack in the middle of a snow storm was considered a ‘very bad thing’ and her friends/colleagues wouldn’t see her point of view on the matter. 

What even was her point of view? Maya pouted at the age darkened floorboards she sat on, back wedged against a sort of makeshift bar and listened to the creaks and groans of a house not long for this world. What would she even say if they caught her, if Axton caught her? The very idea of explaining the odd swooping sensation her stomach gave with every conversation, the very idea of including the words ‘Handsome Jack’ and ‘comforting’ in the same breath almost made the Siren punch herself in the face. 

They’d never forgive her. 

So why wasn’t she leaving? Why was she still sat in the rotting remains of some poor families house, waiting for a man who had probably killed more people indirectly than she had shook hands with? Maya scoffed, scraping her boots against the wood below her feet as she scrambled upright in a sudden bout of agitation. 

This was stupid, she was just asking to be butchered. 

The whole idea seemed foreign to her, now she really gave herself a moment to think. The very notion that she would meet a man who had introduced himself by blowing up the train she was riding, then abusing her verbally for having the audacity to still be breathing had the Siren making a hasty exit while berating herself. 

In less than 5 minutes, she scrambled back into her buggy and glared daggers at the steering wheel. In a strange way, Maya felt embarrassed not only for allowing herself to be charmed into meeting the notorious Handsome Jack, but for leaving in the first place. She could picture the cocky idiot turning up in a little under half an hour, all swagger and confidence to find that she was nowhere to be found. 

It should’ve been funny, but Maya found she couldn’t even force a grin as she started the engine with a grunt of displeasure. 

The strange swell of whatever the hell she was feeling only grew as she glanced to her Echo device and the blue tinted screens analogue clock, the agreed upon time was growing closer and if she really wanted out, Maya would have to move now. 

Forcing down the foreign emotion, she drove off in a flurry of snow and self-loathing. 

 

Predictably, not even half an hour later her Echo device began chirping quite merrily from her lap with an incoming call. The swell of guilt resurfaced from its restless slumber with a vengeance, to the point that Maya felt herself cringe so hard she curled a little around the steering wheel. 

Damn. 

Hand skittering nervously across the steering wheel, she briefly considered answering and acting as blasé as possible. She could pretend it had all been an act, she had bluffed her way through conversation after conversation just to prove that Jack was a man like any other and merely thought with his dick. Like she had somehow won, outwitted him and make herself look like a Queen Bitch in the process.

The idea sounded delightful, for all of two seconds before Maya realised she’d never make it sound believable. So, instead, she ignored the call. She ignored the following calls too, mouth pulled down in a little moue of discomfort as she tried very, very hard to think of nothing at all. 

Her return to Sanctuary was both a blessing and a curse. Whilst Sanctuary at least offered something familiar and relatively safe, it also meant she was returning to her friends and -sort of- colleagues with a gut full of vitriol and the need to act completely normal. 

It also meant turning off her echo, which was as much of a blessing as it was a curse. She had blocked out the sound of incoming calls, thrown the device into an adjacent chair and tried very hard to focus on her return journey instead of fretting over the little device not three feet away from her. It had taken Maya a stupidly long time to realise the calls had stopped; the device was quiet and still and had been for a little while through the long drive back. 

For some reason, a reason Maya was unwilling to look into for a very long time, it left a somewhat bitter taste in her mouth. Coupled with the dread of what exactly Jack would do, Maya felt her stomach rolling with every breath she took. Would he tell Sanctuary of their transgressions? Would he turn petty, send out a party to kill her? Would he simply carry on regardless, as if nothing had ever happened?  
The idea was as comforting as it was worrying. 

 

Unfortunately for Maya, she hadn’t made it more than thirty paces into the safe haven that was Sanctuary before she ran into a familiar face. She had stopped to gather her thoughts just past Scooter’s, absently listening to the mechanic sing along to some song on the radio with the kind of reckless abandon better left to any punk rock band or teenage boy mid rage fit. 

Everything would be fine, she reasoned. Jack would take today as either a personal blow, a sign that Maya was a coward who was a lot of talk and nothing more or possibly that she was toying with him. Either one of the scenarios could end in a shit storm of epic proportions, but she would have to sweat it out and just hope for the best. There really was not a lot she could do at present, especially with the crippling fear (if it was indeed fear, it felt too vindictive and biting to be fear) seizing her heart every time Maya even considered how an echo conversation would go right about now. 

“Careful,” Axton murmured directly in her ear. “The wind might change,”

“What does that even mean?” the Siren muttered, turning on the spot to eye the overly smug soldier just behind her shoulder. The smirk dropped almost immediately as Axton spotted the rather sour expression upon her face. Maya could feel her frown deepening, no matter how calm she tried to stay. Her mood only seemed to become more acidic when the man before her clapped a large hand against her shoulders, meant to comfort but rallying the Siren up even more. 

“Whoa whoa, Maya, it’s a joke,” he muttered, voice soothing and smile so boyish Maya couldn’t help the little sigh of defeat she gave in reply. “Feel free to laugh any time soon,” Axton teased, the ahnds upon her shoulders giving her a little shake as if in encouragement. Maya managed to arrange her mouth into a slanted grin, the trademark sneering smirk that Axton and Salvador had redubbed a ‘snerk’ and thought themselves highly hilarious. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yup, never better. You?” Damn, her voice sounded just a smidge too defensive there and if Axton’s face was anything to go by, he thought so too. The Soldier smiled, eyes telling her just how obvious she was being.

“A-okay. How was the caverns?”

Maya stared for what felt like a full minute. “The what?”

“The caverns,” A pause, Axton quirked a brow as time stretched. “You were going to try and ransack a few more Crysalisk’s for some easy money,”

“Oh yeah, yeah it was good,” she murmured, head nodding vigourously… Perhaps too vigorously from the look she was receiving from Axton. With a considerable amount of effort, Maya forced her head to settle it’s erratic bobbing and gave what she hoped was a self-deprecating smile. “I’m beat, I’m gonna,” A hand waved vaguely toward Headquarters, Maya made to sidestep the man before her with limited success. It wasn’t until Maya really believed she had escaped with only minor embarrassment, that she felt more than heard Axton turn to face her retreating back. 

“Maya,” he called, taking a step or two toward the Siren as she turned with practiced nonchalance. “If somethings going on, you need to tell me,” 

“No, it’s-“

“I won’t say anything,” Axton spoke softly, almost too softly in a voice obviously not used to anything other than barking orders and mania. At least he was trying, going so far as to lean toward her across the space neither seemed willing to cross anytime soon. 

“What?” Maya scoffed, eyes wary as Axton merely shrugged and roughly shoved both hands into pants pockets. “What do you mean, about what?”

“Just that I wouldn’t tell anyone, that’s all,” A smaller shrug, the barely there smile lowering her hackles more than any words spoken as Axton appraised her once more. With a muted sigh, he shook his head and returned to his usual warm smile and dancing eyes. With a cock of the head, the Soldier seemed pleased enough to let the subject go. “Go on.”

 

For the next few days, Maya was too unnerved to so much as turn her Echonet back on. She knew, if anything, she was just making the situation worse and her terror over said repercussions all the more ruthless. For the past few nights, the Siren had found sleep that much harder to grasp, no matter the hardships of the day or the lateness of the hour that the team did finally manage to stop and catch a break. 

She wasn’t stupid (or maybe she was), Maya knew the feeling in the pit of her stomach was guilt. Possibly mixed with a little trepidation, this was Handsome Jack she was dealing with, who knew just how well a man like that might take being stood up? Every time the blue haired Siren thought back to the mad dash away from that crummy little building, her cheeks flamed a bright red that clashed terribly with both her hair and bright yellow outfit.  
Would he laugh? He probably had every right to, it was quite the gutless thing to do looking back on it. If the tables had been turned, if she had managed to scare away some ‘big strong Vault Hunter’? Maya would like to think herself a pragmatic person, reasonable perhaps. Even she couldn’t deny she’d probably laugh herself hoarse, then tell everyone who’d listen. 

It was a stupid situation, but nothing about her stay on Pandora had been anything short of ridiculous so far, why break the streak?

With a lie about the device being broken, Maya had found her days shared between the group of Vault Hunters until such a time that she could get it fixed. It remained hidden for as long as possible, prolonging her need to stay within the group and double team with a member in order to stay in contact with the group. As long as she avoided too many jaunts with Axton, the plan seemed to be working and giving the Siren a much needed respite from thinking all together. 

Usually until night came, when her traitorous brain would use the small window of inactivity to plague her about just how juvenile she was acting. 

 

On the sixth day, Maya finally willed herself into admitting her Echo was fixed, breaking from the group in almost the same breath. Both Axton and Salvador had been quite happy to carry on as a group effort, the boys seemed to find it unbelievably easy to get along and had spent many a night trading filthy jokes and anecdotes throughout their shift in whatever passed for camp that night. 

Zero, as ever, seemed to have no opinion either way. 

She departed with a determined set to her shoulders, flicking on her Echo without so much as a look down to the daunting piece of plastic as she waited for the telltale buzz of missed transmissions from the past few days.  
Maya waited a full five minutes but nothing came, no buzz nor chirp of activity as she seated herself rather heavily within her too warm buggy and jammed the ignition with an overly heavy boot. She felt oddly disappointed, in a way, an unwelcome emotion to realise after so many days of nothing but slight dread and running countless scenarios through her mind. 

But she knew without a shadow of a doubt, she had been expecting something after nearly a week of avoiding the subject. 

Handsome Jack hardly seemed the man to take avoidance and radio silence laying down, yet here she was with no clue how to proceed. Did she even want to proceed? Maya frowned at the scenery without seeing, following a dirt road without really meaning to as she contemplated the sharp disappointment of only moments ago. 

So, she did in fact enjoy speaking to Jack… So what? 

She had expected a call, some message that conveyed his ire or perhaps amusement at her pathetic fight or flight reaction to him. Receiving nothing felt more like a kick in the teeth than the Siren was willing to analyse, mostly because she knew without having to look too deeply that she would be the one making the first move this time round. 

Without really meaning to, Maya found herself stopping the buggy in the middle of nowhere and more or less wrestling the door open with a growl. Fine, if it was up to her, then she’d speak to him now before she lost the nerve. 

With enough petulance to rival any child, the Siren all but threw herself up onto the buggy’s bonnet and listened to the familiar chirruping as she waited for a pick up. Another world weary sigh left her mouth, sounding very put out and uncomfortable even to her. 

“Suck it up,” she muttered to herself almost without meaning to. 

With a dawning sense of unease, Maya realised there was still no answer. Jack was usually manic energy, a far too chipper voice on the line before she’d really had to contemplate a call placed, as if he was glued to the stupid little machine all day. 

Just as she was beginning to worry, a shout on the other end almost had her drop the Echo in surprise. So, it seemed he was angry. 

“If I have to say it again , I’ll rip your face off and wear it as a hat!” Handsome Jack all but bellowed, voice reaching that crazy pitch reserved for the insane. A little scuffle, a rattle as the comm was picked up and raised the slightest bit. “Wait a minute,” he muttered before dropping the Echo face down, followed by some of the weirdest noises Maya had ever had the displeasure of hearing. 

What was he doing? Running a business or herding sheep? 

With a final slam of something large and heavy, Maya listened to the now distant sound of shoes on hard flooring and Jack’s inane cackling. When all seemed to grow quiet, Jack approached once more to grab at the comm. 

“All done, hey,”

“Uh, hey?” The silence was almost deafening, especially seeing as Jack seemed so aloof and had yet to start shouting or snarling at anyone other than the unlucky Hyperion employee. “So,” Oh, so awkward. 

“You do remember you called me right?” he scoffed, chair squeaking as he obviously reclined even further with a bored huff. “I was having fun shouting at, umm,”

Maya allowed a few more moments of ‘umm’-ing before snorting. “You’ve forgotten who they were, haven’t you?”

“They work for me,”

“Go on then, what do they do?”

“Fuck all, apparently,” Jack all but grunted, followed by the sharp squeak of a chair that had obviously been righted at high speed. “Stop distracting me, you called me. What’s up?”

“Ah,”

“Ah,” A pause, Maya could feel her face heating without having to check. “Use your words, I’ll give you one hint,” he sounded far too amused for someone who was not one moment ago threatening to make a face hat out of a poor employee. With a cough, Jack spoke in a voice too wispy and fair to have ever left his mouth in the first place. Dude should’ve been on stage. “Oh Mr Handsome Jack, I’m so sorry,”

“I don’t sound like that,”

“Say your piece, champ,” he muttered, voice bored once more. It really spoke of how many times the two had spoken, when even without seeing his face she could tell he was playing at disinterest a little too hard for any of it to be real. 

“I freaked out, I’m sorry,” Maya blurted, gritting her teeth against the silence that followed and trying her best to wait Jack out at least once. She barely made it to two seconds. “I’m not calling you Mr so forget it,”

“Close enough I suppose. So,” A clap of the hands, voice still subdued but with a certain edge of interest that was too much of a relief for Maya to admit. “Are you done moping or do you want a moment to lament your bad decisions?”

Maya shook her head, gazing without seeing across the barren land before her. With forced nonchalance she shrugged, voice blasé enough to match his own. “Nope, think I’m good.”


	5. Swooning and the Lack Thereof

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N I dunno what happened but it happened so here’s another chapter, I have to be up in 3 hours so goodnight! Hope it’s okay, if not let me know. I’ve barely read it back, but I’m either hilarious, enjoy my own jokes too much or I’m sleep deprived. Or all three.

It was far too easy to fall back into the weird routine they had before, a fact Maya decided to merely gloss over and worry about some other time. It was nice, that’s the main thing. Especially when she had spent a week concocting scenarios in her head for Jack’s weird and terrifying revenge, the lack of any real hurt was as jarring as it was welcome.

The fact that she wasn’t worried should have her worried, but that way lies confusion so Maya decided to gloss over that too.

“Why are you even on Pandora? You know they have some dig sites on one of the Eden’s right?” Jack muttered, working with the Echocomm laying a short distance from his keyboard. Maya’s earpiece – an item she was rarely seen without any more – securely jammed in place as she gave a half-hearted jog away from the Pandoran creatures in hot pursuit.

She’s been sent out with a handful of missions, little tasks to keep her busy and an excuse to be off on her own for hours on end without anyone asking too many questions. She wasn't really sure what she’s doing at the moment, attention split between Jack and surviving to the point that she didn't realise she had spoken ‘til Jack was responding.

“You mean archaeology?” Maya snorted, firing her SMG at a swarm of Rakk without any real interest. “I don’t think my, err, ‘skillset’ would fit archaeology,” Jack snorted in return, the somewhat relaxing tap of his keyboard paused long enough to lean a little over his Echo.

“What, playing in the dirt? Check. Making a mess? Check. Baking in the sun like some sort of barbarian? Big check,”

Maya frowned into the distance without seeing as she tried to work up the steam to be annoyed, admitting defeat with a shake of the head. “I should be offended right now, shouldn't I?”

“Probably,” Maya could literally feel the flippant shrug from the older man. “It’s that barbarian brain of yours; you’re too focused on shooting to register anything else. We’re lucky you’ve got walking and talking nailed,”

The Siren did laugh then, a proper laugh that didn't resemble a snort in any way, shape or form. Thank you very much. The very idea of joking around with a screwball like Jack would've been terrifying not a month ago, yet Maya’s found she enjoyed calling the Hyperion a variant of a ‘bag of dicks’ far too much to really question anything she did anymore.

“Fuck you,” she muttered, voice amused and she was only slightly embarrassed because of it.

“Rude,” he muttered, typing resumed but with a sigh of boredom. “It’s got to be preferable to ‘vault hunting’ on some hick planet,”

“You’re technically doing the same thing, you know that right?”

“Yeah but my hair’s better than yours, so,” Jack paused to acknowledge the large bark of laughter from the Siren, followed by her crow of ‘You wish, Dickface’ without comment. Even if she could hear the grin in his voice, he didn’t seem up for a discussion about it. “And when you’re rich it’s okay. I don’t have to touch the dirt, that’s  the worker bees job,”

“Ah, gotcha now. So as long as you’re sitting in your nice shiny office with your stupid hair” Maya wasn’t nearly as gracious when Jack shouted his indignation, shushing his demand to fight with something that sounded suspiciously like a raspberry until the older man scoffed and shut up. “So with enough money vault hunting can remain glamorous, yeah?”

“Exactly,” Jack was grinning, she could practically feel it. Maya allowed the silence to stretch a little as she smirked, clambering over a few rocks for an ideal scope spot with no real reason in mind.

“You’re like those wives from Hermes with the tiny dogs and more jewellery than brain cells,” she replied mildly, almost a little baffled at the overly loud ‘awwww’ she received.

“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” Maya snorted, shook her head and shot a bandit square in the eye all within the same breath. She didn’t know why, maybe just to distract herself from the familiar fluttering in her stomach that had only been increasing the long they spoke. “You’d be the same with enough money to suffocate in,”

“Nah, I’m not a fan of those little yappy shits,”

Jack laughed, a sort of subdued laugh compared to his usual. It was a laugh she had been hearing more and more recently, oddly relaxing and a welcome discovery. “Not that, cupcake,” he muttered, sounding far too amused and setting off that weird fluttering in Maya’s gut once more. “I mean vault hunting without the dirt and sweat,” A beat. “Although I’m sure you look lovely,”

“I do,” Maya nodded once to herself without missing a beat, far too pleased with the scoff she received in return.

“Nah, I like it. Maybe next time round I’ll pick a planet without a sun that wants to murder me, but still,”

“Well I’d say there’s always the Shelf, but you might have another brain fart and disappear for a week,”

“You said you wouldn't keep bringing that up,”

“What up?” A pause, voice too innocent to ever have emerged from Handsome Jack. Damn him, he could pull off ‘clueless’ brilliantly though. “Oh, the ‘Tundra Episode’,” Jack gave a sniff so haughty Maya felt her eyes roll back in her head without even intended to. “Dunno what you’re talking about,”

The whole ‘Tundra episode’ was thankfully ignored, well, _mostly_. Handsome Jack wouldn't be Handsome Jack if he didn't label the whole thing the ‘Tundra episode’ in the first place. Recalling said episode in a put upon, somewhat foreboding voice with every chance he got. That was fine, because she could almost see the funny side of it now, even if she cringed every time it was mentioned.

Even now, Maya could feel her face heating. Her brow was sweaty, bright blue strands of hair sticking to the nape of her neck and cheek. Even with the Pandoran sun, her embarrassment tinting her cheeks a deeper pink.

“I’ll hang up if you’re going to get all self-righteous on me again,”

“Nah, I just ate. Can’t be pious on a full stomach,” he sighed, far too amused for his own good. Maya smirked, even as her discomfort remained as a background noise. “Leave it for later.”

Jack was crazy, that much was very clear, but he was the sort of shouty crazy that – when kept a safe distance away – was surprisingly entertaining. Calling the President of Hyperion (a company so horribly rich it boggled the mind) a bag of dicks every other day was really enjoyable, especially when said President giggled like a girl and didn't send out a murder party to hunt her down.

 

 

Maya squatted against the steel barrier, humming gently to herself as she took a quick peek over her cover of choice. The gaggle of bandits – herd? A culture? Whatever – were still fighting within themselves, she noted with something akin to amusement. For a moment, it had seemed like they would kill each other and save the Siren a bullet or two. On closer inspection, Maya realised ‘fighting’ may have been a poor choice of words, squabbling was probably closer to home as she watched one midget shove another into the side of a building.

Midget A (it just made it easier to label them, especially when all bandits seemed to shop at the same place) was clutching a gorgeous pistol to his bare chest and squawking something terrible. Maya was fairly sure the squawking could be translated as ‘my gun, piss off’ as Midget B came barrelling at A with a scream of rage. Neither seemed too willing to admit defeat, yet neither seemed to remember they were both carrying weapons as the two pushed and shoved at each other heatedly.

The Siren snorted, watching as they both resorted to slapping at the others arms and pushing in the hope that someone would fall over eventually. With a resigned sigh, Maya settled more comfortably against her cover and watched the show with a bemused frown.

Dear God, how low had she sunk if this was a source of entertainment?

It seemed the screaming had attracted more attention, as more bandits started to get involve. Only difference being, the newcomers were already pulling out guns and pointing them at anyone and everyone within the mob. Soon enough, Maya was watching a Truxican stand-off, only everyone was screaming gibberish.

It wasn't until Midget B made a madcap grab for the weapon that things got interesting, the two tussling heartily until somewhere in the fray a gunshot sounded. Instantly, everyone began shooting as Maya hid herself more from view. She answered the Echo call without taking her eyes from the scene now 20 feet before her, unsure if she was amused or annoyed. “Hello?”

“Hey champ,” Jack answered, voice oddly hushed as a gunshot rang out and someone a little way away screamed.“Listen-“ 

“Hey, I’m watching bandits have a domestic,” Maya chortled, voice hushed even as the group grew louder. “It’s great, also I think I may need a life,” she muttered, adding a sigh for emphasis even as she watched one bandit miss his target and head-butt a car hard enough to knock himself out. Jack was hissing something, Maya realised as she tore her gaze for the scene before her and hunkered down behind her cover. “Jack?” 

“Yeah, listen,” Another gunshot, this one closer as Jack struck out at something metal. “You’re gonna love this,” A pause, Maya was fairly sure the gunshot she heard this time was Jack firing instead. Ah, shit then. The Siren, scuttled back to her buggy, hidden a few meters away behind an almost dilapidated building. “I’m being shot at, what fun!” 

“Doesn't sound fun to me,” 

“Well done Maya, you get a toffee,” Jack simpered, obviously more annoyed than scared as a stray bullet pinged loudly far too close. She could hear the mad shuffle as Jack obviously thought the same, firing twice in retaliation and shouting a cheery “shit head!” in return. She smirked, started the buggy and began driving before she realised she had no idea where she was heading. “You’re about five miles away, I’m South East of you,”

“Interesting,” Maya muttered, voice even and neutral even as she felt her mouth stretch into a grin with Jack’s whine in response. The Siren ignored the weird thrill within her stomach, accustomed to the swooping sensation by now and began driving vaguely in the right direction. 

“Maya, babe, come on,” he whined, firing without breaking character as the biggest baby on the planet. “The bandit just said something about my pancreas, I missed a lot of it but I definitely heard ‘pancreas’ and ‘grilled’,” 

“Could be inviting you to a BBQ,” Maya mused, trying and failing to keep the amusement from her voice. She laughed quietly as Jack made a noise somewhere between amusement and anger. 

“And people think I’m cruel,” That tone of voice just had to be fake, no one could sound that hurt and lost all at once. The Siren snorted, shaking a few strands of electric blue hair from her vision as she scanned the horizon for some sort of epic gunfight. “I can feel you smirking, I hate it,”

Maya laughed outright, the noise loud within her quiet buggy even as she cringed at the sound. Thankfully, Jack was too busy calling someone a ‘piss ant’ to really pay her much mind, giving no more than a snort in return. “How many are there?” 

“Umm, a lot?” She could practically hear the shrug, Maya tutted just loud enough to be heard.  “Well I’m sorry, I can’t really check at the moment,” 

“Alright, alright,” The Siren huffed, voice so thoroughly put out even she was a little impressed. “One minute.” 

 

 

One minute turned into five, but Maya was the first to admit she was rubbish at directions. To be fair to her, South East was vague as shit and this whole planet looked like a nightmare of sand and dirt. She arrived to a car turned on its side, a town car with what were once black tinted windows and some fancy as hell details. 

Now it looked more like someone had taken a mallet to every panel and gone wild. 

Unfortunately such an expensive looking car had only earnt Jack more attention than even he could had asked for, resulting in the six buggies currently surrounded with some idiot firing a gun every other second. Thankfully, it seemed the security detail – who were now face down in the sand with their own syrupy pool of red surrounding them – had managed to pick off the majority. 

Without too much fuss, Maya took out a few bandits to her immediate left and watched as a Psycho came barrelling towards her with a strange looking weapon. Like someone had taken a pizza slicer and made it into a nightmare, which seemed to suit Pandora wonderfully. With no more than a shallow slice across her shoulder blade, the shirtless asshole was gurgling and falling dramatically to the sand. 

Maya kicked him in the face for good measure. 

After that, she wasn’t really sure how long she spent circling around shooting at bandits but long enough if her racing heart was anything to go by. Eventually, the Siren bent at the waist and took a few deep breaths, hands braced against her knees before she remembered the idiot in the town car she hadn’t heard from since her arrival. Straightening up, Maya made her way slowly towards the totalled car and listened for any signs of life. 

“Hey, Jackass. If you were dead, you could’ve let me know before I killed everything,” she shouted, circling the car around the back in the hope of finding a way in. The back window was smashed, leaving a gaping hole that Maya was too leery of sticking her head through. She may joke with the man, but he was still Handsome Jack and getting shot in the face did not sound like a good end of the day. 

“I would curtsey and offer you a favour or something, but my arms trapped and I left my embroidered handkerchief at home,” A voice growled as Maya came to face the car’s roof, sunroof shot out as she squatted slightly until she was eye level with it. The Siren bit her lip, peering around as best she could until she caught sight of one surprisingly tan arm clutching at a bright yellow pistol. 

“You could just throw the pistol out,” Maya shrugged, voice aimed for nonchalant and thankfully it sounded just believable. She wasn’t ready for the head that appeared from within the dim, nor the mop of surprisingly hilarious hair that had her trying to hold back a smirk. “That’d be favour enough for me,” 

Surprisingly, Handsome Jack did just that. The gun was tossed carelessly and without a moment’s hesitation, leaving Maya with an odd sort of gratitude that embarrassed even her. 

“Don’t look so pleased, sweetheart,” he scoffed as he shifted position, face twisted momentarily into a grimace of pain. “It’s empty,” Maya peered at the gun by her feet, resisting the urge to check and see. Instead, the Siren wound her arms tightly across her chest and jutted her hip in apparent boredom. She eye-balled the dishevelled President before her, gaze skittering from the clasps of his mask and instead lingering on the absolute shit storm that was currently his hair. “Now, if you’re quite finished swooning,” 

“Oh as if,” she scoffed, releasing her arms to her side with a huff of annoyance as the man before her gave a far too appealing grin. “You should swoon, I’m saving you,” 

“Don’t worry, I am,” Another grin, accompanied by an almost indecent eye balling that resulted in a familiar burn to Maya’s cheeks. Great. “Now, I don’t believe you’re finished saving me,” Jack sat back, gestured within the car to his other forearm with a sort of patience reserved for teachers and parents. “You may recall, my arm is trapped,” 

With nothing more than a grumble, Maya began skirting the vehicle once more, searching for anywhere she could get a foothold. Without too much trouble, the Siren placed her foot against a pipe running along the underside and launched herself upward. With a stroke of luck, she grabbed hold of a door handle and found herself scrambling across the overly hot metal within moments. Peering through a broken window, Maya spotted Jack laying against the opposite side looking very bored. 

Jackass. 

Lowering herself inside, Maya made to stand upon the headrest when Jack gave a sort of squeal. Looking now, Maya could see the problem. With the impact and the damage to the left hand side, the door had crumpled inward on his forearm that must've been resting against the chair in front. 

“This your first time in the back seat with a boy?” Jack interrupted her thoughts, voice far too amused for her liking. Maya shot him a filthy look, ducked her head and tried to position herself around the idiot that was currently grinning at her like he’d planned it all. “It’s okay pumpkin, I’ll walk you through it,” 

Maya gave an experimental tug of the headrest, surprised when the chair gave with little squeak of mental on mental. With a laugh and a groan of annoyance, the Siren gave another hearty pull and refused to make eye contact with the idiot beneath her. “Jack, I swear I’ll leave you here,” 

Jack laughed even as he winced, watching Maya as she started to pull at the chair once more. “Liar.”


	6. What is it with Hyperion and stupid socks?

“Well, this is nice” Jack mused, disgust evident as he rubbed a patch of dirt from his knee and gave Maya a look that mostly involved raised eyebrows and superiority. God damn him and his smug face, Maya was honestly expecting the idiot to be at least slightly embarrassed… But no. He had been in the buggy for no more than 5 minutes and already he was trying to annoy the hell out of her. Unfortunately he was succeeding.

“Shup up Jack, it’s a car not a summer home,” Maya scoffed, wrist limp over the wheel as she swiped a hand across her sweaty brow. Her daring rescue, coupled with the now waning afternoon heat and the desert that seemed to go on forever was giving her quite the headache. 

It didn’t help that Handsome Jack kept grinning at her like he knew some great secret, maybe he knew that every grin sent her way sent her mind into a weird little frenzy of activity and yet static at the same time. She hadn’t thought of this part of her daring rescue, having to escort the fool somewhere he wouldn’t bake alive or be eaten. She should’ve left him in the wreck, Maya thought bitterly as Jack slouched further in his seat and gave her an almost comical eyebrow wiggle when he caught her watching. 

“You call it a car, I call it beyond depressing. Where’s the thing with the mirror?” Jack peered at the panels either side of his head with annoyance for a moment before pawing at the dash. 

“What thing with the mirror?” Maya watched as he fumbled around for a moment more, mildly amused as he kept flopping his stupid hair out of his face. “The visor?”

“Bingo!”

“I don’t have one,” Maya knew the little cry of disgust Jack gave was mostly to get a laugh, but the look of disbelief was genuine enough. Vain idiot. “Your hair is a lost cause at this point, you don’t need one,”

“Oh! You are both cruel and a liar, my hair is always awesome,” To prove his point, he flopped the front back into place and gave her a cocky grin. The act was only somewhat ruined when said hair fell into its previous position. With a huff at Maya’s laugh, Jack began searching once more. “You literally have nothing even resembling a mirror in here, do you?” An arm was stretched across Maya’s view (which was honestly not that interesting, the desert would still be there when she looked again) before she batted it away with an annoyed huff of her own. 

“I will leave you out here to die,” she stated in an even voice that was not so much a threat as a promise. 

“I call bullshit,” Maya refused to watch as Jack’s stupid face came far too close to her own, his features a blur beside her but she could just tell he was grinning. With a side eye and a scoff that convinced no one, Maya backed away an inch whilst trying to look unaffected. She could feel her face burning, palms sweating as Jack studied the move with far too much interest. He sat back in his chair without mentioning it, oddly subdued as he wedged a knee up against the dashboard and squinted out at the sands around them. 

“Try me, bitch,” she grumbled after a beat of silence that lasted far too long. With someone like Handsome Jack, silence seemed almost unnatural. She didn’t want to acknowledge the meaning behind said silence, she decided as Jack grinned her way without making a move closer. 

“Do you treat all damsels like this? Because, rude,” 

“I try not to make a habit of it,” she sighed out after a pause, lip curling into a subtle smirk. “And most damsels at least show me some leg for my trouble,” Maya couldn’t help the almost giddy grin that broke out across her face as Jack laughed beside he, awkwardness forgotten within the blink of an eye as he turned to face her once more. 

“Ah, I’ve been warned about girls like you,” he almost whispered, voice a rumble as a finger was pointed loosely in her direction. The Siren gave him the briefest glance from the corner of her eye, willing herself to ignore what that voice did to her. “First it’s all ‘I’ll rescue you’, next I’m pregnant and you won’t answer my calls,” 

The guffaw – whilst embarrassing – really couldn’t be helped, at least it seemed to relieve some of the tension within Maya as she turned her face away to laugh proper. 

“I think you have concussion,” she snickered, near enough gnawing her lip off as Jack’s grin seemed to grow with every laugh that escaped her. “Or brain damage,” 

“Maybe I’m just happy to be in your company,” A man of his years should not be able to flutter his eyelashes so convincingly, it was almost distressing. Maya realised she was laughing softly even as she rolled her eyes, giving the horizon her somewhat divided attention. 

“You’re just bored and looking for someone to torment,” she smirked as Jack spluttered in feigned indignation, shook her bangs from her eyes and peered at the landscape with interest for the first time in a while. “Where’s the nearest fast travel? I don’t have a clue where I am,”

“You think I’m going to use a fast travel? Pfft,” Jack gave the desert a look of disgust, somehow looking personally insulted by everything he saw. The obvious question of ‘why’ was just on the Siren’s lips as Jack perked up once more. “Take me to Opportunity?”

“And die for your amusement? No thanks, champ,”

“You won’t die, who said you were gonna die?”

“The turrets and Loader Bot army were my first clue,” 

“You don’t have to escort me to the door, unless of course you were hoping for a goodnight kiss,” Jack and his fluttering eyelashes were back in her personal space once more, however he soon backed away as Maya allowed the buggy to bounce heavily against a minor sand dune on his side. “Ouch, right, you get nothing now,”

“Oh no,” Maya deadpanned, smirk in place as she kept her focus on the sands before her. 

“Yah! What I thought,” he huffed once with an over the top pout, growing bored far too quickly to keep the act up for longer than a beat. 

 

It wasn’t until Opportunity was looming large and far too shiny that Maya realised she had actually been in the car with Handsome Jack for a little over an hour, laughing with someone who was by definition the enemy. It was a distressing thought, one that left Maya feeling guilty and confused in equal measure. 

She hadn’t even had the presence of mind to be paranoid for anyone from Sanctuary spying her with the CEO and chief ass of Hyperion for the entirety of the journey. It had just been nice, in an odd sort of way. 

“You’re still bleeding you know,” Jack spoke and broke Maya’s guilty thoughts, voice quieter now they approached his stop as the Siren sent a bemused little grin his way. 

“What?”

“Your shoulder,” Jack pointed, hand vague and hardly of any help at all. 

Maya peered at her yellow clad shoulder, spotting a dark red splatter “Oh! Yeah I remember,” Oh, the dude with the weird pizza cutter on steroids. It was strange; the sting of the open cut was only making itself known now she came to think about it. “Eh, can’t feel it, what with me being a badass and that,” she grinned, going so far as to flex one tattooed arm.

“My hero,” Jack rolled his eyes with a chortle, straightened in his seat from his slouched position and rolling his neck. “Come on then, out with it. What you gonna need in return here?”

“What?” 

“As payment for services rendered,” he asked, lips pulling into a grin even as Maya frowned his way. One eyebrow raised, Jack gave her a ‘look’ that Maya was certain she was supposed to understand yet couldn’t. “Badasses can’t survive on thanks alone,”

“Sure they can,” Maya laughed a little shakily, unsure if she was overly comfortable with the smug little grin Jack was sending her way as the buggy slowed to a crawl and stopped a good mile from Opportunity. Any closer was just asking for trouble. “All in a day’s work, citizen!” she crowed, voice a crappy parody of numerous members of the Crimson Raiders. With a huff of air, the Siren waved her arm in a vague gesture and ignored Jack’s little grin. “And all that crap,”

For a few seconds, Maya sat staring at the steering wheel in deep thought. She knew what she wanted to ask now she had the chance, the one question that had been bothering her for weeks – months – on end. Only problem being she couldn’t force herself to ask it, couldn’t make herself ask and watched with a sort of sick relief as Jack made to leave with a faint tutt. 

Buggy door open, Maya pretended not to hear the way a joint or two popped from sitting and driving for so long. The urge to comment on Jack’s age was great, but so was the urge to keep whatever this was going. “Last chance,” he still hadn’t left, stupid grin still in place as Maya decided to just go for it. 

“Why are you like this,” A cough, one electric blue eyebrow lifting as Jack relaxed back into his seat. Bastard had just been waiting for her to get the nerve, she realised with a frown. “With me, I mean?” Jack shrugged, although everything about his expression told Maya that he was just toying with her. “I should’ve been strangled to death about an hour ago,”

“Don’t be stupid,” he chided, shaking his head at her obvious idiocy. “I’d let you drive me here, then strangle you,” 

Maya laughed despite herself and the awkwardness that seemed to be suffocating her, giving the man beside her a scoff even as he continued looking pleased with himself. Stupid Handsome Jack and his stupid smug face, being all at ease while she tried not to have kittens. 

For a long minute, neither spoke. Maya absolutely refused to be the first to diffuse the situation, on pain of death if it came to that and it was fast approaching that point as Jack carried watching her all knowingly. 

The silence stretched for maybe a minute longer before Maya huffed and started shoving the CEO out of the buggy, cursing his stupid face even as he laughed himself stupid. 

“Don’t take it out on me! I’ve made myself perfectly clear,” he laughed, stumbling from the buggy even as Maya called him as many colourful variants on asshole as she could think of. “We’re all just waiting for you, here,”

“Whatever,”

“You let me know when you decide,” Jack was still bent at the waist, peering in at Maya in a way that should’ve been uncomfortable if it wasn’t for the stupid grin in place. With a quirk of the brow, the man before her seemed to light up. “In the meantime,” For some reason he’d popped his foot on his now vacated chair, giving his jeans a yank at the knee and forcing the material upward. “A flash of leg, as requested,”

“That’s a sock,” Maya laughed, staring at the blue, red and white stripes with bemusement. 

“Pretty good sock though, am I right?” A beat and Jack was stepping away, the buggy door swung firmly shut as he gave his hair one last brush back. “And with that, my damsel role is fulfilled.” 

What the hell was her life?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A.N – Ok so I’m super sorry and I’m a terrible person, let us begin there. I sort of…. Forgot? Uni was sapping me of all my life force? I’m a very lazy person? All three tbh. I write this a month ago, but have tried unsuccessfully to check for errors since then…. I am rubbish AND lazy, so I’m sorry. If there are any mistakes plz let me know, I could use the help. Winky face.


	7. Before the Cage Comes Down

For the longest time, Maya could not shake the odd quake within her limbs whenever she recalled the Handsome Jack Incident. Of course, she acknowledged the absolute lack of deep fear/loathing towards the crazy CEO with the same disregard most people had for taking the trash out. She’d worry about that later. At this point, that didn’t even make her twitch. What did set her on edge (oh so slightly) was the urge to speak to him again.

It was all getting a little embarrassing, really.

While Maya imagined a lot of women had been through the ‘should I call or let him’ dilemma, she was also pretty sure half of them had at least kissed the man in question. Sadly, the most physical contact she had managed was shoving and pushing like a child with a crush. Okay, so maybe it was a lot embarrassing. Strangely enough, Jack hadn’t even made an attempt into her personal space after the first time. When she had flinched back, the CEO had decided to keep more or less to his side of the buggy for the duration of the ride. Something that was equal parts endearing, confusing and frustrating.

With the Pandoran sun beating down upon her, an inventory full of looted weapons and some lovely eridium sending an eerie glow across the back of her buggy, Maya stared off into the middle distance with one leg wedged awkwardly against the dashboard. The heaviness behind her eyelids had the Siren rearranging her position minutely, a quick glance at her echo letting her know she had another 3 hours before darkness descended proper to really worry about the critters of Pandora.

It was an hour before Maya was awoken by her echo alerting her to an incoming call, device lighting up on her lap and knocking the siren out of her light doze. She blearily realised Jack’s name, hitting accept and letting out a yawn so wide her jaw popped.

_“Heeeeyyy,”_ Jack sung, clacking away at an alarming rate at his keyboard while Maya tried to shift a now dead leg into a more comfortable position.   
  
“Hey, let me guess,” she muttered, voice equal parts sleepy and amused. “Your car exploded and you need a lift to the mall, you’re late for prom and the limo hasn’t arrived,”

“You wound me, really, you do,” he muttered, trying to sound hurt and failing badly. “One friendly gesture and you hold it above my head forever,”

Maya hummed thoughtfully to herself, appearing deep in thought for all of 5 seconds. “So, you need someone to go shopping for shoes with,”

Maya laughed at the silence that followed, enjoying the banter and feeling a little dopey after her nap in the Pandoran sun. It was a good feeling, but the very idea of driving back anytime soon almost made her groan. She barely heard Jack laugh through his nose, a breathy sound before he tutted at her amusement. “Why do I talk to you?”   
  
“Iunno, cheaper than therapy,”  
  
“She says, after demolishing yet another compound and stealing all my valuables like a sexy thief in the night times,”

“Snatching jewels and hearts, that’s me,” Maya nodded happily to herself, stretching as best she could within the cramped buggy. Only when her shoulder gave a satisfying pop did she stop fidgeting, a happy little sigh following the crack.   
  
_“Wow,_ you’re in a good mood,”  
  
Another yawn, this one more a garble of sounds as Maya rearranged herself for the third time in as many minutes. Dammit, she could not fall back to sleep here. The sky was just starting to get darker and knowing her luck, a whole family of Rakks would pounce the moment the light faded.

“I just woke up, I was enjoying a lovely nap until some idiot wanted to talk about shoes or something,”  
  
“Aww, you’re so cute all soft and sleepy,”

“I’ll wake up soon enough, then back to the regularly scheduled murder,” Maya ignored the soft ‘aww’ from the murderous idiot on the other end of the echo, instead she started up the buggy and began the slow drive back to Sanctuary. “Did you want something, babe?” she cringed to herself, but at least she hadn’t stuttered and Jack didn’t even seem to realise the endearment. Score.   
  
“I was going to offer you a very special prototype,”  
  
“I’ve told you, I am not interested in that Rakk, Bullymong monstrosity,” Maya paused as Jack laughed, grinning at the desert without seeing. “Would I have to take it for walks?”

“I was thinking more of the shooty shooty kind of prototype, you know the ones,” Jack paused for effect, his voice twice as smug as Maya remained silent and obviously listening intently. “With the flashy lights and ominous buttons that have no explanation to them but _damn_ do you wanna press them,”

“My favourite,” A pause, the siren tried to add a little bit of a purr to her voice as she leant closer to the echocomm in the seat beside her. “Leave it at a board for me?” The line stayed silent of all but static for a good few seconds, just long enough for Maya to think she had won.   
  
Then Handsome Jack-ass laughed, tutting softly to himself. “Nu-uh pumpkin, what am I getting out of this?”  
  
“You’re such a _bitch,_ sometimes,” she muttered, not at all surprised even as she glared at the scenery passing by. “I un-damseled you no more than 3 days ago, and what did I get outta that? I’ll tell you,” she leant across to the passenger seat once more, voice dropping as she frowned down at the little contraption beside her. “I’m gonna get a sweet ass gun, and I’m gonna press all the buttons on it,”  
  
Jack didn’t seem fazed by her little outburst in the least, in fact he seemed to be giggling like a moron the entire time. “So cute, oh my god,” he laughed louder as the Siren scoffed, shifting uncomfortably as she waited for his amusement to die down once more. “I meant, meet me and you get the so called ‘sweet ass gun’,” A beat of silence, nowhere near enough time for Maya to form even the vague outline of a sentence in response. “Deal? Deal. Awesome, I’ll be in the Southern Shelf tomorrow. I’ll send you the co-ords la-”  
  
“Wait hold on. You can’t just assume I’m going to turn up, I didn’t agree to that,”

“It’s a pretty sweet _gu-unnn_ ,” Jack sung the last word, allowing the silence to drag as Maya frowned to herself. When said silence stretched for half a minute, the CEO continued with a very put-upon sigh. “Alright look, I’m not even going to touch you. You turn up, I give you the gun, you can shoot bullymongs ‘til your filthy bandit hard explodes in rapture. Ok, pumpkin?”

“Bullshit,” she scoffed, raising one blue eyebrow at the echo beside her.   
  
“Ok fine, your heart probably won’t explode and I’m sure it’s not filthy,” A pause, Jack sounded far too pleased with himself and it only served to rub her up the wrong way “Better?”

Maya chewed on her lip for a good minute, thankful that Jack seemed to understand her need for silence as the CEO busied himself with work to fill the soundless void between them. Slowing the buggy to a crawl, Maya finally decided to just park once more and eyed the distant and hazy image of Sanctuary in the distance.

“Jack, Just answer me, ok?” she asked softly, annoyed at her own discomfort as Jack grunted an affirmative. “Why are you doing this?”

“I’ve told you,”  
  
“No you haven’t, you’ve dropped hints and been smug about everything,” Maya swiped her hair away from her sweating forehead in agitation, huffing as Jack just grunted once more for her to continue. “But you want me to meet you, when any sane person would suspect a trap,”

“And yet, it’s not a trap,” he murmured, damn ass was amused again! “How dastardly of me,”

_“Jack,”_

With a heavy sigh, the CEO went silent. Even the repetitive and somewhat soothing sound of his rhythmic typing had stopped, leaving Maya to wait with anticipation. Already, the Siren felt that much lighter, just getting him to consider her question properly instead of blowing her off with another laugh at her expense.  

“Pandora is probably the most boring planet I’ve been to, I’ve been to a few. It goes Pandora, Elpis, Eden-5, that weird little rest stop of a planet that didn’t do coffee, I can’t-“

“Jack,”  
  
Another silence, this one a lot shorter than before as Jack seemed to lean toward the echocomm a little more. “You’re interesting, you don’t bore me. I could say something insane and you’d either laugh or outdo me, which, you know. It’s nice,” he muttered, the squeak of his chair telling Maya he had once more leant away as the typing finally resumed. “It doesn’t exactly happen all that often, so well done on that,”  
  
“Oh,”  
  
“Also you’re hot. I never knew I was into blue hair, but hey,” A beat. “My boner seems to like it,”  
  
Maya sighed, face bright red as she closed her eyes. “Why do I talk to you?”   
  
“Iunno.”

 

 

 

It wasn’t as if Maya had suddenly gained more guts just within the past week, but the idea of meeting Jack had only became a ‘very bad idea’ the second he had actually turned up in a car too sleek for the sandy dunes around it. Until then, she had been quite happily sprawled across a somewhat stable roof to some poor idiot’s dilapidated and abandoned home. The sun had lulled her to distraction, the horrid planet had even managed a breeze once every 10 minutes and she was oddly comfortable.

The she had heard quite clearly the approach of a car, engine quiet even as it had breached the horizon at speed. Even for half a mile away, you could just tell it was expensive.

Maya had just enough time to sit up, blinking owlishly about her as her vision remained spotted from the sun. Said car was stopped before her, parked and Handsome Jack’s stupid handsome face appeared out of the window before she had even made to get up.

She decided not to bother, just to have the high ground for once.

“Only you would think that car was a good idea out here,” Maya scoffed, eyeing the car instead of the grinning idiot hanging out the window. “No wonder you get ambushed so often,”   
  
“Don’t be jealous, it’s rude,” A finger was wagged her way, even as they both squinted at one another as a gentle breeze picked up a fine dusting of sand around them. “You gonna come down here or are we gonna shout at each other all day?”  
  
“I’m all for shouting, but if you want to be all civilized about it I suppose you can join me on the roof,” Maya gestured at the space beside her, grin evident as she watched the CEO below grimace. Thank God, the roof was barely stable enough to support her weight.   
  
“Yeahhno, I don’t even think that even qualifies as a roof,” he scoffed as the Siren rolled her eyes, one hand shielding her vision from the sun. “But a kind offer,”  
  
“Can I have my gun now?”  
  
“Can you come get it?” Jack sent a grin her way, far too pleased with himself as Maya carried on staring. It wasn’t until Jack waggled his eyebrows that she turned away, pink faced and still refusing to budge. “Hey, you know as well as I do… I can play this game far longer than you,” With a sigh, Maya shuffled a foot to the right to start edging her way off the heated metal below her. “You know this is a nice thing I’m doing right? This isn’t a trap,”  
  
“Which is exactly what you would say before the cage came down,” she muttered as she slid off the building, Maya turned to see Jack had exited the car and was coming towards her with another flashy grin.   
  
_“Kinky,”_ he murmured, earning a grin from the Siren before he gestured vaguely skyward. “See, no cage,”  
  
“Today is just full of little surprises,”

Maya wasn’t sure who made the first move to lean against the building beside them; she only knew that the shade was a welcome relief even if it did leave her in an awkward position. Small talk wasn’t exactly the Siren’s forte, but thankfully Jack chose the same moment to dangle the rather attractive shotgun in her view. Maya wasted no time taking the prototype from him, turning the gun this way and that and inspecting the features with interest.   
  
“How can you stand this? It’s like being set on fire,” Jack grumbled by her side, adjusting his jacket fussily while Maya smirked at his fidgeting.   
  
“Says the man wearing at least four layers,” she snorted, finally taking the time to inspect the CEO’s clothing. With a frown, she grabbed an odd stretch of fabric which extended almost to his knees. She gave the material a slight tug, laughing as Jack fussed even more. “Do you get dressed in the dark? What even is that?”  
  
“That’s a shirt, it’s what educated people wear,” he snipped, wiping at his forehead with the back of one hand as Maya smirked and released the ‘shirt’. “I’m all for touching, but you’re a little off,” Jack said with an obvious leer, comically shifting a little closer as the Siren snorted with a twist of her lips.   
  
“Jackass,” Maya muttered, interest back on her new gun as she ignored the flutter in her chest and heat in her cheeks. Again, she was far too grateful that Jack seemed to back off a tiny bit, instead focusing his gaze on the gun in the Siren’s hands.

“See, cool right?” Maya could do nothing but nod, turning the shotgun this way and that to inspect it fully. Jack was pointing at something, turning the gun a little within her grip as he did so and allowing Maya to keep her eyes down. “I dunno what that button does, but this one is like a short blast or,” The Siren gazed upward as Jack thought, forehead creased before he shrugged and gave up trying to remember. “Or something? I dunno, a gun geek told me and I tried to listen, but I think I zon-“

And oh God she was kissing him, she was kissing Handsome Jack.

To be fair to the older man, he seemed to be taking the whole thing extremely well. There had been a sort of guffawing chuckle against her mouth before he had kissed her back, teeth at her lower lip and large palms against her hips that kept her firm against his body.

Which, was strangely okay.

Until of course she dropped the very flashy, very heavy shotgun on his foot whilst making a mad grab for his jacket collar. It was a strange sensation, having Handsome Jack pushing forward into the kiss even whilst he hissed a very colourful list of cusses against her mouth. Maya thought about apologizing, she really did, but she seemed to happen upon laughing at the strangeness of the situation first.

Without much more than a growl Jack turned them both, hedging her in against his chest and the wall at her back.

“Ouch,” he muttered, pulling back for the split second it took to glare at her with his mismatched eyes as Maya fought to focus on what the hell was happening.

“Sorry,” she tried to say as Jack was pushing forward once more, mouth insistent against her own as she found herself gripping his shoulders to steady herself.

Maya wasn’t even sure how long they stood pressed against each other so intimately, all she was really sure of was that Jack flush against her front and grinding very slightly against her thigh before the loud chirrup of her echocomm sounded against her hip. Problem being that the Siren really couldn’t find it in herself to care, not when Jack was growling at her in warning as she made to pull away.

It wasn’t until the comm went quiet then immediately started ringing again that Maya gave the man against her a light shove, realising with no more than a furrowed brow that a large palm was heavy against her breast and seemed to have been there for quite some time.

“Jack,”  
  
“Yep,”  
  
“Can I have that back please?” Maya nodded her head towards the hand still against her chest, a thumb running back and forth almost absentmindedly. The grin kind of gave him away.   
  
“Do you need it _right_ now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHA It's nearly 5 in the morning and I've been writing since 1???? Que???? Anyway, thank you to everyone who commented on the last chapter. You are all my baes, each and every one of you. Let me know what you think? Kbai.   
> (Chapter title is from a Dylan Moran stand up show that I vaguely remember in a drunken haze some years ago.... It's an odd line that has stuck with me for far too long.)


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